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Wednesday, December 26, 2012

7. Bastiat ~ Victims of Lawful Plunder

Frederic Bastiat was a French economist and
statesman. During and after the Revolution in 1848, he warned of the
inevitable degeneration of socialism into communism in The Law. Previous Bastiat posts can be found here.

From The Law:

Men naturally rebel against the
injustice of which they are victims. Thus, when plunder is organized by law for
the profit of those who make the law, all the plundered classes try somehow to
enter — by peaceful or revolutionary means — into the making of laws. According
to their degree of enlightenment, these plundered classes may propose one of
two entirely different purposes when they attempt to attain political power: Either they may wish to stop lawful plunder, or they may wish to share in it.

Woe to the nation when this latter
purpose prevails among the mass victims of lawful plunder when they, in turn,
seize the power to make laws! Until that happens, the few practice lawful
plunder upon the many, a common practice where the right to participate in the
making of law is limited to a few persons. But then, participation in the
making of law becomes universal. And then, men seek to balance their
conflicting interests by universal plunder. Instead of rooting out the
injustices found in society, they make these injustices general.

As soon as the
plundered classes gain political power, they establish a system of reprisals
against other classes. They do not abolish legal plunder. (This objective would
demand more enlightenment than they possess.) Instead, they emulate their evil
predecessors by participating in this legal plunder, even though it is against
their own interests.

It is as if it were necessary,
before a reign of justice appears, for everyone to suffer a cruel retribution —
some for their evilness, and some for their lack of understanding.